Question

how does the circular economy play a role in recyclable plastics?

Answer 1

Plastics make a significant contribution to a circular economy when their entire life cycle is examined. The unique characteristics of plastics enable them to play a major role in a circular economy. Being lightweight, versatile and durable, plastics can help save key resources such as energy and water in strategic sectors that include packaging, building and construction, automotive and renewable energy, to name but a few. In addition, plastics' applications in packaging can help reduce food waste.

In a circular economy, we keep resources in use for as long as possible, extract the maximum value from them and then recover and regenerate products and materials at the end of their service life. Thus a circular economy offers a way to improve competitiveness and resource efficiency of the economy.

In developing a road map for a circular economy, it is important to ensure that decisions around appropriate solutions are based on sustainability considered across the entire life cycle rather than simply considering resource efficiency aspects only at the end of life of a product. To improve the circularity of plastics, it is essential to make sure that more and more plastic waste is recovered and doesn’t end up in landfill or in the environment.